RFID Technology: A User-Friendly Guide to our next loss of privacy...

There is much controversy lately in regards to technology and privacy. The line between safety & convenience and privacy is becoming even blurrier because in many respects, it is too early to tell which technology is safe and which isn't. The discussion in regards to RFID technology is just heating up. RFID stands for radio frequency identification. Declan McCullagh writes on news.com: "RFID tags are miniscule microchips, which already have shrunk to half the size of a grain of sand. They listen for a radio query and respond by transmitting their unique ID code. Most RFID tags have no batteries: They use the power from the initial radio signal to transmit their response." Basically, these identification tags can be placed in or on just about anything and can be scanned to provide the scanner a variety of information. This information can be as simple as the price of an item about to be purchased in a department store, or as pertinent as the name, address, phone number, birthplace, and social security number from someone's passport. The technology promises a greater ease of use for consumers. However, it also allows for an even greater potential breach of privacy.

The benefits to consumers are numerous. Adopting RFID technology (although RFID tags are currently active in the marketplace in several forms) encourages a greater ease of use to consumers in several ways. First, adopting RFID tags to products consumers buy frequently could expedite the entire consumer process from keeping and tracking inventory to providing consumers the opportunity to check themselves out independently. In addition, if RFID tags were adopted in mass, such a practice could potentially decrease theft dramatically. Theft would decrease because RFID tags allows us to track whatever it is attached to. This is beneficial outside of the consumer world as well. The ability to easily track an item or being is a great opportunity to ensure the safety of people and animals. Applying an RFID tag to a pet, elderly person, child, or hospital patient ensures that if they are ever lost or kidnapped, locating them would be easy. My mother recently bought a puppy that came with a sensitive RFID tag already implanted beneath her skin. While it is reassuring to know that if she ever ran away we would be able to find her, the prospect of installing a microchip beneath the skin of an animal to be easily tracked is unnerving.

Which raises one of my biggest concerns with RFID technology. Call me old fashioned, progression-averse...whatever you may desire, but the ability to easily access information or locate a being make me uncomfortable. While I definitely appreciate the opportunity to reclaim my mother's lost puppy if need be, what if that was me? What happened to the luxury of anonymity? Privacy is a commodity that is increasingly less accessibly by the powers that be, ie: media saturation (online communities in particular) as well as government. It appears that with our fast technological sophistication, our society is being blurred to submission. This technology allows anyone to easily register information via a nearby scanner. While this is convenient for consumers, it provides a frightening loss of privacy. I don't think I want just about anyone to scan my passport or cell phone for my personal information. I would rather wait in a longer line waiting for US Customs than risk exposing my social security number and contact information. If RFID technology is applied in mass like many are predicting, I fear there is an opportunity for a severe loss of privacy and anonymity.